Alvis Stormer

Alvis Stormer
Stormer HVM Close Air Defence Vehicles from 9 (Plassey) Battery, 12 Regiment Royal Artillery, attached to 1 Bn, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (1RRF), on Exercise MedMan, Canada
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Production history
No. built	over 220
Specifications
Mass	12.7 tonnes
Length	5.27 m
Width	2.76 m
Height	2.49 m
Crew	4
Engine	Perkins 6-litre, 6-cylinder diesel 250 hp (186 kW)
Power/weight	21 hp/tonne
Transmission	David Brown T300
Suspension	Torsion bar
Operational range	400 miles, 650 km
Maximum speed	50 mph, 80 km/h

A Stormer HVM firing a Thales Starstreak

The Alvis Stormer is a military armoured vehicle manufactured by the British company Alvis Vickers, now BAE Systems Land & Armaments. The Stormer is a development of the CVR(T) family of vehicles (Scorpion, Scimitar, Spartan etc.), essentially a larger, modernised version with an extra road-wheel on each side.

Variants

Like most modern AFVs, Stormer can be produced in several different configurations for different battlefield roles. It is marketed by BAE as being available in several configurations, such as a two-person turret armed with a 25 mm cannon, air defence (with guns or missiles), an engineer vehicle, a recovery vehicle, an ambulance, a mine layer, an 81 mm or 120 mm mortar carrier, a command and control vehicle, a bridge layer, and a logistics vehicle. Optional equipment includes a nuclear-biological-chemical protection system, an amphibious kit, passive night-vision equipment, and an air-conditioning system.

Specific types are:

Stormer HVM

The British Army use Stormer equipped with High Velocity Missile (HVM) – the Starstreak and Martlet (missile) aka Lightweight Multirole Missile for short-range air defence. Under the Army 2020 plan for the British armed forces, Stormer HVM was to equip three regular and two reserve artillery batteries. The reserve batteries have since all been converted to HVM Lightweight Multiple Launcher (LML) to reduce the training burden. There are reports the Stormer HVM is being supplied on Ukraine. Six had arrived by July 24, 2022, according to the Ukrainian army.

Flat bed Stormer

A Stormer with Shielder system

A transport version of the Stormer with a flat load bed is used to carry the Shielder minelaying system.

Stormer 30

Stormer 30 is a development of the Stormer chassis as a tracked reconnaissance vehicle. It is a turreted version of the Stormer. It is armed with a 30 mm Bushmaster II automatic cannon. A TOW missile launcher can be fitted to either turret side. The cannon and turret can traverse through 360°. The elevation is from -45° to +60°.

The rate of fire of the cannon is from single shot to a maximum of 200 rounds per minute. The cannon has a double selection ammunition feed system with 180 rounds of ammunition ready to fire.

The vehicle remains in the prototype stage and it is unclear when it will enter service. The vehicle will be fully air transportable by Lockheed C-130 Hercules used by the Royal Air Force aircraft as well as the Sikorsksy CH-53 helicopter currently in service with NATO allies and other nations across the world.

Stormer Air Defence

The Stormer Air Defence was a prototype air defence vehicle built in the late 1980s. This variant was to mount a dual Stinger launcher, as well as either a 25 mm GAU-12/U or 30 mm GAU-13/A cannon.

Specifications

A Stormer HVM with Starstreak missiles

• Crew: 3 + 8
• Armament: 1 x 7.62 mm machine gun standard but depends upon version
• Engine: Perkins T6.3544 six-cylinder diesel
• Length: 5.27 m (17 ft 3 in)
• Width: 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in)
• Height: 2.27 m (7 ft 5 in)
• Max speed: 80 km/h
• Range: 650 km

Operators

A map of Stormer operators in blue

Current operators

• Indonesia - 40
• Malaysia - 25 (retired)
• Oman - 4
• United Kingdom - 151
• Ukraine - An unspecified number of Stormer vehicles (at least 6), including Stormer HVM vehicles, were sent from the UK to Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion. Ukrainian soldiers were trained in the UK to use armoured vehicles of various types that were supplied.

In popular culture

• A flat bed Stormer was used by Lucasfilm to serve as the basis for the fictional TX-225 GAVw "Occupier" combat assault tank seen in the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
• The Stormer HVM appears in the game Project Reality (PRBF2) with the British Army Project Reality.
• The Stormer HVM appears in the video game War Thunder with the British ground forces.

External links

• Stormer - Light Armoured Vehicles - Jane's Land Forces